Service vehicle trucks are often supplied with pumps and fluid supplies for delivering fluids such as air, water, oil, and other various lubricating media to service other large vehicles in the field. It is desirable to provide a substantial length of hose, line, cable, etc. to extend from the service vehicle to the area where servicing is being performed. Many such lines are stored on spools or reels that are driven to rotate to facilitate paying out and taking up the associated line or hose.
The typical reel drive mechanism includes some form of hub on the reel and a shaft that is connected by chain and sprockets, belting, or gear arrangements to a remote drive motor. Such drive assemblies require the use of central bearings for the drive axle and sundry linkage components connected to the drive motors. These are cumbersome, complex and expensive arrangements. Further, it is not at all unusual for the central axle bearings and drive chains/belts, etc. for the spools to wear and give out long before the associated drive motors become worn and require replacement.
Some driven reels are provided with internal "clock" spring return mechanisms. The spring return mechanisms are situated within the reel spool, taking up radial space within the spool. They include the advantage of a cantilever mount configuration wherein the reel spool is mounted at one end of the spring return mechanism, and the mechanism is mounted to the reel frame. Thus, the axle of the spring return becomes the hub of the reel spool. No other bearing mounts, other than internal bearings in the spring return, are used to support the spool. This leaves the outside surface of the reel spool relatively unencumbered. However, spring reels have inherent deficiencies. Spring tension increases as greater length of hose are pulled from the reel spool. This can result in increased pulling effort to strip the hose from the reel and, in uncontrolled circumstances, can also result in the hose being drawn back too quickly by the tightly wound spring. Also, the springs are easily broken by unattended withdrawal and by excessive pulling forces applied to the hose. Further, spring loaded reels will only function with prescribed lengths of hose, given the limited capacity of the spring. Thus different spring mechanisms are required for different hose lengths.
A need has therefore been realized for a hydraulic motor driven reel assembly that is substantially simpler in construction, more durable, and less expensive to operate and maintain. A primary objective of the present invention is therefore to provide a hose reel with a "live axle" drive arrangement, thereby eliminating bearings and drive linkages typically required in previous driven hose reel arrangements. Such provision also fulfills another objective, to provide a durable, safe, easy to operate and maintain hose reel, due to the long wear characteristics of the direct drive hydraulic motor and elimination of complex and easily broken or damaged drive linkages, spring returns, and spring catch mechanisms, and that has unlimited capability for paying out and taking up hose of any length.